


Souls Left Behind

by Sparky_Young_Upstart



Series: Avengers: Resurrection [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (no shit), Avengers Mansion, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity Gems, Pepper Potts as Rescue, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Thor (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, but carol's here and she gonna kick some ass, i don't know how radio waves work, it hurts at first but we're gonna get there, my hand slipped and things got gayer, or really physics in general, rocket might be crying to an ax handle, sad beginning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-04-30 15:06:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14499639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparky_Young_Upstart/pseuds/Sparky_Young_Upstart
Summary: Infinity War continuation: something close to what I think could happen in part 2 but like, obviously we can't wait a year! So obviously SPOILERS FOR INFINITY WAR YALL!In the darkest hour of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, those who remain after Thanos' victory must try to find a way to undo his destruction. But there's a chance that they have more on their side than expected - a plan set in motion by a late magician, an old ally returned from the depths of space, and a universe ready to Avenge their loved ones no matter the cost.*takes place simultaneously with "Hearts in Amber"*





	1. Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have the stamina to write out a full screenplay and send it to the Russos with a note saying "did I get it right?" But I also can't sit here for a year and keep my ideas just ideas. I gotta get them all out here.

The surface of Majesdane glittered against the darkness of the rest of space. It’s blue and pink clouds reflected any light in the universe back a hundredfold, giving the illusion of a white dwarf star. It was here that the legendary warrior of the Kree was suspended in orbit. She hovered between the planet and it’s sun itself, bathing in the cosmic rays. It was ironic - she need to periodically recharge in order to keep her abilities in good condition, yet at the same time she contained so much raw energy that she was rarely able to approach any inhabited planet without igniting the atmosphere. It was the cost of destroying a terrifying Skrull weapon, and a cost she accepted. She knew the risks, knew that even if she survived it would be decades before her powers reached an equilibrium that made it safe to return to Earth.

If she had kept track properly then it would soon be twenty five years since she left. Nick, Coulson, Monica - how were they holding up? She wished she could contact them, but her last line to Earth wasn’t advanced enough to send anything meaningful. It was a receiver first and foremost - and when she did receive a signal, all she could do was confirm it. But that was enough. If Earth was in dire enough need, she would return.

And as if the universe had heard her thoughts, the pager went off.

She was startled from her meditation by its beeping and quickly grabbed it. She stared at the screen, saw the three letters blink at her from he LCD screen: S.O.S. Her breath hitches. She stared at it a moment later, making sure it was real, then pressed the REPLY button. And then she took off, hurtling through he galaxy, propelled by the power of a hundred stars.

She was the Scourge of Skrullos.

The Warbird of Chandilar.

The Binary Woman.

Captain Marvel.

Carol Danvers.

And she was coming home.

* * *

Steve didn’t have the energy to keep mourning.

He spent so long mourning Bucky, and then mourning what Bucky had been turned into. And just when he finally had him back he had literally slipped through his fingers. The thought made him nauseous. But his heart had been pushed to the limit today, because Bucky was just the foundation of his despair. How many friends had been taken from him - from all of them? M’Baku has already left to be with what remained of the Jabari. Rhodey was still trying to call Sam on the coms, even though everyone knew it was hopeless. Thor stared meaninglessly out the window. Rocket held his axe, every now and then saying something to the handle, like he was trying to coax something from it. Steve didn’t understand why, but he understood desperation when he saw it. Princess Shuri - or was it Queen now? He supposed it was true technically, but she refused to respond to the title. It was either optimism or denial brought on by the death of her family. Okoye stood strong by her side but Steve saw the way she gripped her spear - the warrior was wounded inside and out.

But at the same time, bless Shuri, and Nat, and Bruce. As the full scope of what had transpired became clearer and clearer, Shuri threw herself into work and the other two rushed to join her. They were scanning every hailing frequency and communications channel to take stock of who still remained.

“Hope is active,” Bruce said as he read from a screen. “She says that Scott’s daughter made it too, but not the others.” He turned to the people in the room. “I...I don’t know who they are,” he said apologetically.

“Clint is still here,” Natasha added from her end of the display. She didn’t sound as excited as one would hope, though.

“Laura?” Steve asked, and he got his answer when Nat looked to him with empty eyes. Of course not.

“The numbers may not be 100% accurate,” Shuri said distantly, “but the population of the world...it appears to be exactly halved.”

“Then we have lost.” Thor replies despondently.

“No,” a bitter voice growled. They all turned and looked at Rocket - the tiny creature commanded the room because his voice was the only one left with any emotion. “No!” He repeated. “We’re not just giving because of...” He chokes back tears. “Because of this. Thanos doesn’t get to win!”

“He already has, rabbit.”

“SHUT UP!” he screamed as he aimed his gun directly at Thor. Thor didn’t move, almost like he welcomed a fight in this time of crisis. But he wouldn’t get one, he wasn’t the target of Rocket’s rage. “I will scour _every_ planet in the _universe_ until I find Thanos, and when I do I’ll chop his hand off, fix everything, and then ram that axe RIGHT UP HIS ASS!”

“There’s something else!” Shuri quickly interjected, though her eyes hadn’t left the computer. “We’re being contacted by...this is something I’ve never seen.” She pressed a few icons and the room heard a new voice.

“ _\- please respond. I repeat, this is Captain Carol Danvers calling on all known SHIELD frequencies. I am responding to an Omega Level emergency broadcast. I am requesting immediate contact with Agent Fury, Agent Coulson, or Director Carter...or anyone. Please Respond...I repeat. This is -_ ”

The message was cut off as Rhodey rushed to the display. “Patch me in.” Shuri did so. “Captain Danvers, this is Colonel James Rhodes of the United States Air Force and Avengers. Carol, is that really you?”

There was a pause. Then: “ _The Avengers? You’re_ _an_ Avenger _?! Nice work, Rhodey! I guess Fury really did pull it off. Where is he?_ ”

Steve would have gladly taken the burden from Rhodey, the task of explaining the destruction Thanos had wrought, but the airman seemed insistent on doing it himself. As the two talked it became apparent why - Rhodey and Danvers had history together. They had both been part of the Air Force in the nineties, but as far as Rhodey knew she had been declared MIA. In reality, she had become embroiled in SHIELD and...and so much more. A few chance moments with an experimental Kree weapon caused her DNA to be altered and gave her the power to draw on all sources of energy. Flight, energy blasts, the ability to not only survive in space but travel through it at faster-than-light speeds - she was the strongest being Earth had ever seen. Until Thanos.

Danvers must have been horrified to see Earth in such a state as this upon her return, but it didn’t show in her voice. She was a consummate professional. “ _Fury and Carter always knew that this could happen, though I never thought it would be this...extensive._ ”

“Does that mean you can’t help us?” Rhodey asked.

“ _No, not at all. I think I know exactly why Fury called me in. With my abilities I’m capable of withstanding plenty of powerful energies - I could potentially wield the stones against Thanos._ ”

“Well, the only way to know for sure would be to find them, and that means finding Thanos. Bring your ship to our coordinates and we can start planning.”

“ _That’s...not going to work._ ”

“Is there something wrong with your ship?”

“ _I...don’t have a ship._ ”

Rhodey paused, checking to see if the others in the room were just as confused as he was. “...Carol, how are you contacting us without a ship?”

* * *

“Like I said, all kinds of energy,” Carol answered as she stood on the moon, gazing down at the world and focusing on the source of Rhodes’ transmission. “I don’t need any tech to get a signal out.”

“ _That’s incredible!_ ” Rhodes replied after a few moments of stunned silence.

“And convenient, since I can’t get too close to the Earth’s atmosphere.” And she explained her side of things, the war between the Skrulls and the Kree that almost came to Earth, and how her intervention was able to avert it at the price of putting the planet in their sights for years to come - not to mention, pumping her full of so much cosmic energy that she was only to be contacted in the most dire of circumstances. “Please tell me you guys have a ship you can send to me.”

There was a pause on the other line, then a new voice came on the line. “ _This is Princess Shuri of Wakanda. We have a ship we can prepare to come to you. We’ll get it ready as fast as we can._ ”

* * *

“There. I’ve programmed the coordinates for Earth into the guidance system. It should get you there in 32 jumps.” Nebula spun away from the control panel and began stomping out of the ship.

“Wait, where are you going?” Tony asked from the doorway.

Nebula shoved him aside to leave. “To retrieve my sister’s body and give her a proper burial,” the cyborg snapped back. “And then destroy Thanos.”

“Okay, hold up!” Tony called after her. “We got our asses handed to us with a whole team just now, you think you can take him alone?”

Nebula growled. “At least I’m willing to fight instead of fleeing back home.”

Tony glared daggers at her. “I am going there to get reinforcements! At least then we might have a chance.”

Nebula spun around specifically to mock him. “Oh, of course. The “Avengers”. Some help they were today.”

“No better than your Guardians!” Tony spat back. “If your boy Quill had held it together -”

Nebula screamed and hurled one of her staves at Tony, who only just managed to dodge out of the way. He was not fast enough, however, to avoid her tackling him to the ground and holding his throat in a vice grip. “ _We lost Gamora!_ ” she screamed in his face, her voice distorting with the strain put on her mechanical implants. “ _What do you know of the rage that comes with losing one you love?!_ ” She picked his head up and slammed it into the ground, pressing down. Tony struggled to say something. “ _How do you know if any of your friends on Earth are still even alive?!”_

Tony stopped struggling to speak, but his face was still crunched up. It took Nebula a moment to realize that he had started crying. She quickly withdrew her hand. Dammit. How could she be so stupid? She only just realized what it was like to have people who cared for her. This man - this idiot Terran, he had a connection with the other two that came with him. And yes - _how many_ of his friends could have perished on Earth? She stood up and turned away. “I’m - I’m sorry.”

Tony was sitting in a heap on the ground, pressing his hands to his eyes and trying to control himself. There wasn’t time. There wasn’t time to lose his mind. He had to pull himself together, get back to Earth, find whoever was left ( _don’t think about if Steve’s the only other survivor_ ), make some kind of plan -

“Plan.” Tony staggered to his feet. “Strange had a plan.”

“The wizard?” Nebula asked. “The _dead_ wizard?”

“The whole trip up here he said he would never give up the Time Stone for anything. When we arrived here he used it to seek out timelines where we were won.”

Nebula crossed her arms. “I imagine he found zero.”

“One,” Tony replied. “One timeline. A timeline where we lose today, where he dies - but there’s got to be something else out there. Maybe a bigger team, maybe a weakness he has -”

“Thanos has no weaknesses. He’s proven time and time again.”

“Then why are you still trying to fight him?” Tony asked.

Nebula was shaken by the question, but somehow she found an answer inside her. “Fighting is all I’ve ever known. For him, against him - it’s my life. I was just beginning to think that if I ever did manage to kill him then I could rest, maybe find a family like my sister did.” She laughed bitterly. “That’s not an option anymore. The least I can do is die with vengeance on my breath.”

Tony nodded. “Well, that’s something I can relate to. But we need to find the right play. We’re in the endgame now. There has to be something out there that can stop him. And if not...well. I guess your plan is as good as any.” He nodded at her ship. “Is there any way we can stay in contact?”

She had a way, but she didn’t like it, but at this point any other hate paled in comparison to her loathing of her so-called father. Nebula tapped her wrist, which suddenly opened up like a computer terminal. She pulled out a small cylinder of electronic bit and bobs, then tossed it to Tony. “It’s old tech. It should be able to interface with your suit.”

“Good. Find any allies you can out there. I’m going to get some of my own.” He tapped his arc reactor to realign the remaining nanobots, then attached the communicator so it could be incorporated. “This isn’t about Earth’s mightiest heroes anymore. Or the galaxy’s.”

Nebula nodded with understanding. “I will do whatever I can to bring the full fury of the universe to Thanos’ doorstep.”

That was the only farewell she gave before leaving for her ship. Tony climbed into the Benatar ( _cute name, kid_ ) and pressed the button that activated the autopilot. If he needed to he could easily figure out the controls; they were clearly designed for a humanoid. But he needed to figure out what Strange’s plan was.

And to do that, he needed to figure out what amends he needed to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made up or exaggerated some of Carol's aliases, but the point is she's lit and she's here to save us.


	2. Long-Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note: A part of this fic I was originally going to include here I've decided to make into a separate story. They're still connected, however, so you might want to check out "Hearts in Amber" as well. Thanks!

The silver and violet beauty of a spacecraft descended upon the surface of the moon with the trademark grace of all Wakandan technology. Okoye was piloting the craft while Shuri, Rocket, and Rhodey waiting in the hangar. Two of them wore spacesuits that Rocket happened to have in stock, but Rhodey was lucky enough to have his suit retro-fitted by Shuri’s labs in order to withstand the vacuum of space. Carol was hovering a few feet off the surface, waiting for them. When the airlock opened and three figures exited, she didn’t recognize any of them.

“Rhodey?” she asked carefully.

He raised his black and gold metal hand. “I’m in here!”

Carol smiled. “Oh good. I was worried you were the raccoon.”

“Hey!” Rocket snapped. Carol jumped in surprise.

“Oh shit! Sorry, I didn’t realize you talked. Um...” she turned to the humans. “Is he from Narnia or..?”

“Space, apparently,” Shuri stated. “You mentioned you cannot enter the atmosphere. Are we safe standing so close to you?”

Carol nodded. “I’m leaking all kinds of cosmic radiation, but any space suit should protect you. It’s getting into habitable planets that’s a risk.”

“Well, hopefully that doesn’t prevent you from joining our fight. My brother was taken in the battle and his country needs its king.”

Carol nodded. “Of course. My condolences. I’ll help you in any way you can.”

“You said you could potentially use the Infinity Stones.”

“Potentially. I’ve never encountered the stones or Thanos in person, but the tales you hear when traversing the galaxy...” Carol shuddered. “And I guess they’re all true. Which means I’m just one peace of the puzzle.

“Thanos was able to win because he could use all six stones simultaneously, but even individually they’re still a threat. Space can manipulate the location of objects, be it through portals or telekinetic abilities. Reality creates illusions and temporarily warps the laws of physics. Power, well, that just destroys things. Soul is tricky - it has the fewest legends, but generally it’s believed to control life and death. Time is simple, but also the most dangerous. But Mind is the most important.”

“We had an ally like that,” Rhodey said. “He was mostly AI, but he was powered by the Mind Stone.”

Carol raised an eyebrow. “Really? And he survived that?”

“It had been integral to his creation,” Shuri stated. “A fascinating piece of technology. I could have improved it had I designed it, but still astounding - the synthezoid seemed to have developed a life of his own when I met him.”

“Damn. He must have been powerful. Any being hoping to wield them has to be absurdly powerful.”

“And you’re absurdly powerful?” Rocket asked (more like demanded).

Carol was still weirded out by the rodent talking to her and waving a large gun around, and she had seen some shit. “Yeah. I’d bet my life that I could handle one, but I can’t guarantee that that wouldn’t burn me out completely. Which is the point I’m trying to make - in order to take down Thanos, we need to be able to take out each of the stones before he can use the others to reclaim them. And Mind has to be a priority. It _is_ a mind. The most intelligent and calculating mind in the universe. It would have calculated exactly how to cause this execution - who was picked, who was spared, making things equal across every line in reality. It’s the stone that let Thanos realize the scope of his plan, and it’s the stone that we need to get a hold of in order to reverse it.”

“So that’s the play then?” Rocket mused. “Just get ‘em all together on our side and hit the reset button?” He cocked his gun. “Sounds great. When do we leave?”

“Patience, rodent,” Shuri snapped, though internally she wanted to wage war on Thanos this moment as well. “We do not even know where the tyrant is.”

“Well let’s get on with it and figure it out!” Rocket rocketed back into the airlock before she could reply.

“Go, help him,” Rhodey said. “I’ll be there shortly.” Shuri nodded and followed the critter back inside.

With her gone, he turned back to Carol. “So...nice seeing you again. You look the same.” Which was both true and false. Carol’s once brown hair was now blazing blonde, and she wore a form-fitting suit of what looked like alien armour coloured red, blue, and glittering gold. She had a helmet sculpted to fit her head and face perfectly, but she was holding it at he side so that he could see her face - and that was a face that hadn’t aged a day.

“Thank you. You look good too,” Carol grinned.

Rhodey chuckled, shocking himself a little that he could find such ease in this situation. But when one friend was ash on the ground and another was half a universe away, you take what you get. “You can’t even see me. Under this faceplate? All stress wrinkles.”

Carol shook her head, but kept smiling. “Take the compliment Rhodes.” Then she took a step closer. “I’m glad that there’s a familiar face in all this.”

Rhodey smiled warmly, hoping that somewhere in Carol’s new power portfolio she could tell the ease she put him at. “I owe you a drink after this.”

Carol had a witty remark set up about how much she missed being able to drink since she left Earth and how martini’s don’t work in zero-g space when another ship, this one coming from outside the solar system, came screaming into the space next to them and flew past without pausing.

“Who was that?” they both asked at once.

* * *

“It’s me, it’s Tony,” Tony declared as soon as he found the frequency the others were broadcasting on (and figured out how to work the ship’s systems in the first place) ( _why did it have a tape deck?_ ). “I know we have a lot to talk about but I need to get some stuff covered first. Anyone still left meet me at Avengers Mansion as soon as you can.”

He found a place still covered in rubble that he could hide the ship in without drawing attention. Of course only a few days had passed since the attack on New York that had started this whole mess, and with half the city’s population becoming part of the rubble there weren’t that many hands on deck to clean it up. Still, Tony grimaced at the idea of stepping on a _person_ as he stumbled through the wreckage to reach Peter’s building.

He didn’t want to have this conversation with May. It was the thing he had dreaded ever since he realized how out-of-depth Peter was during the Sokovia situation. But it had to be done, partly to assure her that Peter would be okay and that Tony would find a way to fix this, but also because he had to own up to the fact that he dragged a child into this ordeal. He climbed the stairs, trying not to listen to the wails of despair or cries of missing family members that still echoed through the halls. He found the door to the Parker apartment and raised his hand to knock, but froze.

_Could_ he fix it? He talked a big talk on Titan, but that was a mix of fear and adrenaline. Now he’d calmed down on a relaxing space flight and realized that maybe he couldn’t. Maybe there was no chance. Maybe Strange was wrong, or he was right but Tony still couldn’t pull things off and turn the ship around. Maybe this was just how they lived now: a world without half of their friends and families.

He knocked anyway.

It took longer than he expected, and when he answered the door he was greeted not by May Parker but a large teen with red eyes and wet cheeks.

“Mr. Stark?” the kid asked slowly. Then the floodgates opened. “What happened? Where did everyone go? Where’s Peter? Is he with you? What happened to May? What’s happening? Did -” he choked on his breath. “Did we lose?”

Tony could hardly breath. On the one hand, okay, he didn’t have to have a hard talk with Peter’s aunt. But instead he had to have it with his best friend. “Fuck.” He wrapped his arms around the boy and held him close, whimpering over and over again, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“No! No!” the boy screamed, and wrestled out of his grip. “No! Not Peter! He’s a good guy, he’s supposed to win!” Then he punched Tony. Tony took it. “You’re supposed to help him! You’re supposed to - to do something!”

“I know!” Tony shouted. “I know. Please...” He fell to his knees. “Please forgive me...”

They took a few moments there, letting all of there emotions out, cursing Thanos and the universe and Tony himself. Eventually, though, they were spent.

“What’s your name, kid?” Tony asked.

“Ned.”

“Okay.” Tony scooted over to where Ned was sitting and put an arm around him. This time Ned let him. “Okay. Be mad at me. I screwed up. This is literally my worst nightmare come true.” Tony breathed. “But with one difference.”

“What?” Ned asked.

“There might be a way to turn everything back.” Ned started to get excited, but Tony held his hand up. “Please, don’t celebrate yet. I don’t know how to do it, and I might fail.”

“But you’re gonna try, right?” Ned asked with teary eyes.

“Yeah,” Tony answered. He had to try. This time it was more than shock. This time Tony knew he had to do something. Because it wasn’t just the dead who were hit - it was the world.

* * *

He flew to the Mansion next, and was greeted by Pepper on the edge of a breakdown. This time, though, he was able to be the rock for her as she told him about everyone going, Happy turning to ash right before her eyes, the idea that Tony had died like that or some other way on the ship, and the terror that she might be next. After she was able to breath Tony explained everything that had happened to him.

“Oh god,” Pepper said when she heard about Peter, looking like she was going to throw up. “Oh no, his aunt -”

“She’s gone too,” Tony said. “Small mercies. Are any of the others here?”

Pepper shook her head and wiped her eyes. “Not yet, but there coming.”

Tony nodded. “Okay. What’s...what’s the damage?”

Every name hit Tony like a sack of bricks. Peter had really hurt, but Strange was only a new ally and the Guardians Tony barely knew. But hearing about Vision, Wanda, Sam, T’Challa, and all the others made something else inside him almost break. But he held it together for now.

“Please tell me there’s a way to fix this,” Pepper asked.

Tony laid out the plan - well, the idea that a plan existed at least. “We literally have less than a one-in-fourteen-million chance to win. We need all the help we can get.”

Pepper nodded. “I’m coming with you.”

Tony shot straight up. “What? No. Absolutely not. We’re going to space, and that place is dangerous all on it’s own, but I am _not_ letting what happened to Peter and the others happen to you.”

“I don’t care,” Pepper declared, rising up to meet his eyes. “Tony, Happy died right in front of my eyes. He’s - oh god, he’s a pile of dust in the office because I am too horrified of going in that room to even clean up because it’s _him_ , Tony, it’s _him_ and _May_ and all the others and I can’t let what happened to them happen to _you_!” She took a step back and ran a nervous hand through her hair. “I can’t just stand here and wait for you to save the day somewhere else and not know whether you’re going to do it at the cost of your own life or not.”

“If you think I’m letting you get on a spaceship with no powers or weapons -”

“FRIDAY!” Pepper demanded, and the AI display on the wall sprang to life. “Make me a suit.”

“On it, Pepper,” she replied. Tony sighed. Once the AI was agreeing with Pepper, there wasn't really any point in arguing. He just hoped that the armour she designed would be strong enough for the coming battle.


	3. Gotterdammerung

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did a quick little edit at the end of the last chapter - nothing major, if you've already read it then don't worry, I just changed it so that the Avengers didn't arrive yet. Because then I have time for this! Also we get a little bit of levity here, even though the pain is still raw and painful.

It was on the flight from Wakanda that Thor truly began to feel the weight of everything.

He didn’t show it. He was never one to contain his emotions. But he felt like he had to for the sake of everyone else. Though Stark had arrived back on Midgard with the possibility of a plan to wreak vengeance on Thanos, the tone inside the jet was still quite grim. Though plans were discussed in hushed voices and some tried to crack jokes, it was all a fragile facade. He regretted not taking the opportunity to speak with any of the Wakandans before they had left their kingdom. Okoye had lost a king, Shuri a brother, and M’Baku so many of his own people. Thor was sure that if he had stayed he could lend some sympathy towards them, and perhaps talking about it would ease his own pain.

Okoye reminded him so much of Valkyrie it was almost amusing. If Valkyrie had been there at the battle...they still would have lost. But in that brief moment when the tide seemed to be turning, Thor pictured Okoye and Valkyrie fighting side by side, trading witty remarks and kicking all manner of ass. But Valkyrie was now gone - either by the snap or the initial assualt, but both by Thanos’ hand. Thor gritted his teeth and stormed to the cargo hold, where at least he might be able to release some anger.

Instead he found Banner, leaning against the walls and rocking back and forth while he held a blanket around himself tightly. “Bruce?” Thor asked carefully. Banner didn’t respond, didn’t even seem to notice him until he was close enough to touch his shoulder. The scientist jumped with a start, and a wave of green passed through his skin, but then it was gone.

“Thor. Hi.” Bruce loosened his grip on the blanket. “Sorry. There’s been a lot on our minds.”

Thor slid down to sit beside his friend. “Our? Ah. The Hulk. I thought you two couldn’t...”

Bruce shook his head. “Communicate? No, not directly. But I think I get why he didn’t show up during the fight.” He took in a gulp of air. “He’s scared. He’s terrified of Thanos, and he’s been close to losing fights before, but this was the first time that he had no chance.” Bruce held his head in his hands. “We. We never had a chance.”

Thor wasn’t sure what to say, so instead he reached over and wrapped his arm around Bruce’s shoulders. “I hear you were still a mighty warrior. Much better than I was. I failed my people. Again.”

Bruce turned to him. “No, no, you did everything you could. They attacked all over the ship, Valkyrie and Korg and the others were probably fighting them off, and I’m sure there were escape pods.” Bruce gave Thor his trademark endearing look. “They could’ve made it.”

The Asgardian couldn’t help but smile. Bruce had taken his own defeat to heart, but couldn’t stop himself from being optimistic about someone else’s situation. “Thank you, friend,” Thor replied as he hugged the man tighter.

* * *

Nebula was no stranger to loneliness. It had been her sole companion for years of her life. Even when she was being raised by Thanos, she still felt alone. The older children didn’t give her the time of day, and Gamora was always trying to kill her. It was nothing like the kind of families she witnessed among those she killed. Nothing like the family Gamora tried to induct her into when she joined the Guardians.

Every now and then she wondered if she should have gone with the armoured Terran. He had no experience with space travel, and if he was anything like Quill then he would disregard her advice halfway back to Earth and end up wasting all his credits at a holo-strip on the dark side of Astra. She should have stayed by his side to ensure he kept his word. And also...

She wasn’t running. She swore she wasn’t. But how was she supposed to find allies? She had spent most of her life building a reputation as a feared assassin. And what, now she was too simply barge into the command of any army she happened across and ask nicely for them to help her? Nebula cursed and smacked a hand against the console in frustration. If any space-faring civilization had wanted to attack Thanos with there army then they would have already. Now they’d missed their chance. Actually, it was more likely that they had simply passed on it in the knowledge that Thanos would destroy their resistance regardless. He claimed to not care who made up the half marked for death when he stormed a planet, but if they responded by putting all their best warriors in his line of fire then he would gladly incinerate them.

So no, Nebula wasn’t running, but she wasn’t exactly searching for reinforcements. She was convinced there were none to be found. And deep down maybe _that_ was why she wanted to have stayed with the Terran - his belief that something could be down about this was disgusting and foolish and something she needed at the moment.

In her frustration she almost forgot that she hadn’t tossed the Terran into the galaxy to fend for himself - she’d given him a communicator, one that linked directly to her own interface. It would be wise to check on him. “Terran?” she called as she patched her way across the galaxy. “Are you still alive?”

There was a buzz of static, then - “ _Nebula? I was wondering when I’d hear from you. Yes, I’m still alive. Made it back to Earth. Building some new tech for when we fight your dad again._ ” 

“You think you can create a new weapon after he so soundly destroyed your others?”

“ _Honey, you haven’t seen me when I’m in a pinch. And this is the biggest, shittiest pinch I’ve ever_ seen.” A sigh. “ _I’m also trying to figure out what to do about my reinforcements._ ”

Nebula groaned. “If you can’t deliver what you promised -”

“ _No, no, I can deliver. But some of them I’m...not on the best terms with. We used to be friends, but then we had an argument, and that argument led to a fight. And I’m worried that if we can’t get on the same page then it might be a repeat of Titan_.”

Nebula nodded, even though he wasn’t there to see it. “Reminds me of Gamora and me.”

“ _Gamora...right, your sister. I suppose so. Steve and me started this thing together. I hope we can end it together too._ ”

“I hope we can end it, period.” A small ding caught her attention, and Nebula saw the proximity radar going off. A ship was near. She changed the orientation of the Necrocraft and saw a sight that made her uneasy. “Terran, I may have a problem.”

“ _What’s the sitch?_ ”

“The Nova Corps.”

* * *

“That doesn’t mean anything to me, Smurfette.”

“ _If you do not wish me to use terms you have no concept of, then do not do the same to me!_ ” Nebula snapped. “ _They are lawkeepers. They deal out justice and keep order amongst their Empire._ ”

Tony turned away from his work. “Sounds like the kind of people that would want to help out.” Yet despite this, he could hear the concern in her voice and figured it wouldn’t be that simple.

Nebula scoffed. “ _Not me. I’m a daughter of Thanos. I have a...reputation amongst them._ ” Tony could hear various bleeps and bloops and she presumably prepared the ship to contact these Novas...or defend against them.

“No, you do not get to get blown up by space feds. You are our only chance at getting help from that side of the universe.”

“ _You don’t think I know that?!_ ” she roared into the earpiece, forcing Tony to flinch away from the headset. “ _Now shut up and let me contact them!_ ”

* * *

“This is Nebula. I come in peace. I seek aid against the mad titan Thanos.”

There was a pause. She could see the Nova flagship preparing to draw its weapons against her, but they weren’t firing. Yet. They also weren’t responding. “I repeat, this is Nebula -”

“ _We know who you are,_ ” said a stately voice from the other ship. “ _You are Nebula, a known criminal and_ Daughter _of Thanos. How are we to believe that you have not been sent by him to finish his work?_ ”

“ _Patch me through,_ ” came the human’s voice over Nebula’s own comms. “ _Maybe I can talk sense into them._ ”

“Silence, Terran. They wouldn’t know you from Flerken droppings.” Not that it could hurt Nebula any more than her own notoriety. Of course they didn’t believe her. Why should they? But for Gamora’s sake, she had to press on. “If I came to destroy you for Thanos, I would have brought more than a single ship with me.”

“ _You destroyed the Kyln single-handedly_ ,” was the terse reply.

“ _You destroyed a what?_ ”

Nebula briefly swelled with pride that she had received full-credit for that despite Ronan helping, then she grimaced when she realized that she was trying not to be that person anymore. “It was a prison. Irrelevent. And everyone there was bad anyway.” Then she spoke into the other mic. “I can deactivate all weapons systems on my ship,” she declared, and began pressing a series of buttons on the control panel as she did so. Hopefully their energy readouts would show that she was essentially unarmed. “I only ask that you allow me to board and share the information I have on Thanos.”

There was a pause. Too long a pause. The Nova Corps wasn’t known for toying with their targets, so clearly they were arguing about what to do with her. Nebula sighed. If they did not wish to work with her, then she was already out of options. After another five minutes she prepared to jump away. “If they don’t want me then I’ll find allies with lower standards,” she grumbled into the Terran’s ear.

But right before she fled, a twang-y voice replaced the one that she’d been speaking to. “ _Nebby?_ ”

Nebula froze. There had only ever been one person who risked calling her that incredibly stupid nickname. It was mostly the reason why she had left her sister’s team in the end. But it was someone who knew her, and possibly win over the Novas for her.

And she couldn’t remember his name.

“Hello...” she racked her internal memory for any information on this outer-region hick. If she had ever heard his name, she probably deleted it later with other unnecessary data. Her organic brain was slightly better, yes, she almost had an idea. “...crustacean?”

“ _Are you talking to a crab?_ ” the human asked.

“No! Silence, Terran!”

“ _Nebby, I ain’t Terran. What’s going on?_ ” It was the other voice. Nebula cursed herself for holding both comms open at once.

“I am trying to multitask Kolvin. Craven. Kraglin!”

The voice from the Nova ship gave a tired laugh. “ _Hey, there it is!_ ” Then from a distance, like he was leaning away from the communicator to tell somebody else, “ _Told ya she’d remember me!_ ”

* * *

Brunhilde watched with cautious curiosity as the cyborg was escorted inside. Apparently she had information on how they could defeat Thanos, but there was a difference between claiming that and _actually_ providing it. And after everything that had occurred, the Valkyrie was not counting any ravens before they hatched. An eternity wasting away on Sakaar and trying to forget the past had only led her back to her homeworld, back to her ancient enemy. Hela was defeated, but no sooner had things seemed to be alright than Thanos appeared on the horizon and laid waste to them all.

Thor was probably dead, and on the off chance he wasn’t then he probably thought she was. Asgard finally had a good king, and now there was nothing to rule. Brunhilde kicked herself. _Almost_ nothing. There were still a few survivors. Families that they had ushered into escape shuttles to flee the scene. Valkyrie had gone with Korg and Miek into the last one after she was certain their were no more survivors, and when they launched it was just in time to see the main ship be blasted to bits. She remembered Korg stumbling over his words, trying to think of a way to lighten the situation, but he had nothing.

Then he was nothing. Something passed through the galaxy and where once stood two of Valkyries’ newest allies were now just piles of ash. In fact, the population of the shuttle she was manning had been halved by something. She didn’t mourn them, didn’t do anything to comfort the other shocked Asgardians. She just opened the the stores, found a bottle, and dove into the drink again.

When the Nova Corps found them adrift they were similarly wrecked. Their leader was still with them, but their planet was a wasteland and even now their remaining people were a fragment of what once remained. They told her that as far as they understood, the disappearances too were Thanos’ doing. They had no information beyond that, no way to fight back or help those who remained. They offered to shelter the last Asgardians, said that they had already picked up one straggler while searching for the Titan.

Brunhile felt a presence come up beside her, and smirked. “I was just thinking about you,” she said as she straightened up, her glass of quantum mead sloshing as she did so. “What do you think of our new guest?”

Lady Sif eyed the blue humanoid carefully. “She looks like a fighter. She also looks like she’s been through hell.” Without looking, she found Brunhilde’s hand and clutched it tight. “But then again, haven’t we all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Pokemon allusion not intentional...but I'm not opposed to it either...


End file.
